Monday, May 26, 2014

Tonight at 8pm, following his Progressive Commentary Hour at 7pm, Gary Null will be doing a one-hour special report on the future of Pacifica and WBAI.
Listen on the live stream: http://www.prn.fm/radio-player.php

"The" Uprising at KPFA

May 26, 2014 at 2:47pm

Berkeley-On Memorial Day morning at Berkeley's KPFA radio, the AM hour did not go off as planned. A sudden programming change was announced only 5 days ago to replace the Morning Mix, a programming collective including Andres Soto from the Richmond Progressive Alliance, the legendary Project Censored, authors for more than 30 years of the "Censored" collections of the year's most-neglected news stories and the nation's most prominent media literacy educators, Hard Knock Radio's Davey D, a nationally known African-American reporter and commentator, Steve Zeltzer's labor program, the Poor News Network and several others, driving out of KPFA's prime time the few new Bay Area-based programs generated in the last few years. The replacement plans would have substituted Uprising, which has occupied the 8am hour at Los Angeles sister station KPFK, for the last decade, 5 days a week.

But that's not what happened. At the last minute, 100 community members showed up at KPFA's doors. At 8am, despite the on-air announcement Uprising was to follow, the station aired a special Morning Mix open house with hosts Sabrina Jacobs, Steve Zeltzer and Anthony Fest with Andres Soto and Peter Phillips and support from Flashpoints.

The festive rally ended with the station's heavy metal doors thrown open to the sidewalk and supporters filled the lobby during the impromptu broadcast which featured several guests by telephone and supporters on the air talking about why they came to the protest/broadcast and what the Mix has meant to them.

KPFA news staffers remained on the second floor of the building and did not come down the stairs to greet the protestors for the hour-long duration of the open house.

On Tuesday, supporters are again invited to an AM open house at the station's downtown Berkeley studio at the corner of Martin Luther King Jr Way and Berkeley.

The Morning Mix came onto KPFA's air in the fall of 2010, after two years of more than a half million dollar deficits drained KPFA's million dollar reserve down to zero. A recovery plan approved by the national board unanimously in October of 2010 called for $375,000 in staffing reductions.

Many staffers at the station and members of the community have come to see the Mix as precious open space in the schedule that is accessible for a wide range of content and focuses on local issues often neglected by pundits and celebrities, as well as more subversive analyses of race, class and political issues than is present in two-party-based political affairs coverage. The flexibility in the Mix provided opportunities often missing at KPFA, where program slots are usually held for a decade or more and have been known to be passed down from one family member to another.

The proposed replacement program, Uprising, hosted by Sonali Kolhatkar claimed to have posted large sums of money during a one week fund drive pre-emption in Berkeley. The extravagant amounts claimed by the Save KPFA faction in a newsletter they distribute were bizarre, with receipts exceeding $11,000 an hour and close to $100,000 in one week of broadcast. Kolhatkar's show, which has been on the air in the morning in LA for close to a decade, collected an average of $2,051 an hour on KPFK during its ten fund drive broadcasts on KPFK between May 1 and May 17, 2014, never once cracking the $3,000 mark and once collecting as little as $600. The KPFK fund drive dailes for May 1-20 can be seen here. (http://www.mediafire.com/download/f5v8jwv6wz1wij7/KPFK+Fund+Drive+Dailies+5-1+to+5-20.pdf)

Long-time La Onda Bajita and Flashpoints co-host Miguel Molina exploded on-air on Friday May 23rd at 5:30pm in the closing hours of KPFA's extended fund drive. Molina reported that less than 5 days before the change was abruptly announced, interim manager Richard Pirodsky told Project Censored co-host Dr. Peter Phillips he would not be making changes prior to his departure, leading Molina to ask who exactly was making the decisions, if not Pirodsky. Molina stated the "slashing and scattering" was destroying the morale of a new group of emerging producers. Molina's complete remarks can be found here in audio and here in video. (https://soundcloud.com/tracy-rosenberg/flashpoints-on-kpfa-radio-may), (http://www.unitedforcommunityradio.org/?p=1087)

The latest tumult comes only days after an eight week occupation of the foundation's Berkeley headquarters ended on May 13th after an illegitimate majority set off chaos by suddenly firing the executive director only weeks after a permanent hire and reinstating a CFO who had been let go for poor performance and workplace complaints. The re-hired CFO has still not been able to enter the headquarters without being accompanied by aprofessional mediator and the investigation report has vanished for months.

KPFA's Community Advisory Board announced a town hall meeting at: EastSide Arts Alliance at 2277 International Boulevard in Fruitvale on June 21st.

###

Started in 1946 by conscientious objector Lew Hill, Pacifica's storied history includes impounded program tapes for a 1954 on-air discussion of marijuana, broadcasting the Seymour Hersh revelations of the My Lai massacre, bombings by the Ku Klux Klan, going to jail rather than turning over the Patty Hearst tapes to the FBI, and Supreme Court cases including the 1984 decision that noncommercial broadcasters have the constitutional right to editorialize, and the Seven Dirty Words ruling following George Carlin's incendiary performances on WBAI. Pacifica Foundation Radio operates noncommercial radio stations in New York, Washington, Houston, Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Bay Area, and syndicates content to over 180 affiliates. It invented listener-supported radio.

Sunday, May 25, 2014

Monday Morning

May 25, 2014 at 4:00am

Berkeley-Berkeley's KPFA was smoldering after an abrupt decision that dislocated a group of 6 community-based 1-hour am programs in favor of an imported program from LA. The replacement of the Morning Mix, a programming collective including Andres Soto from the Richmond Progressive Alliance, the legendary Project Censored, authors for more than 30 years of the "Censored" collections of the year's most-neglected news stories and the nation's most prominent media literacy educators, Hard Knock Radio's Davey D, a nationally known African-American reporter and commentator, Steve Zeltzer's labor program, the Poor News Network and several others, driving out of KPFA's prime time the few new Bay Area-based programs generated in the last few years. The change is also exacerbating the station's internal tensions around race, class, and gatekeeping and fraying relationships with groups like the Richmond Progressive Alliance, who have been doing some of the most impactful and effective grassroots organizing anywhere in the Bay Area signal.

Long-time La Onda Bajita and Flashpoints co-host Miguel Molina exploded on-air on Friday May 23rd at 5:30pm in the closing hours of KPFA's extended fund drive. Molina reported that less than 5 days before the change was abruptly announced, interim manager Richard Pirodsky told Project Censored co-host Dr. Peter Phillips he would not be making changes prior to his departure, leading Molina to ask who exactly was making the decisions, if not Pirodsky. Molina stated the "slashing and scattering" was destroying the morale of a new group of emerging producers. Molina's complete remarks can be found here in audio and here in video. (https://soundcloud.com/tracy-rosenberg/flashpoints-on-kpfa-radio-may) (http://www.unitedforcommunityradio.org/?p=1087)

Molina asked listener-sponsors and members of the public to come to KPFA between 7 and 8 am on Monday May 26th to support the Morning Mix staffers.

The replacement program, Uprising, hosted by Sonali Kolhatkar was claimed to have posted large sums of money during a one week fund drive pre-emption. The extravagant amounts claimed by the Save KPFA faction in a newsletter they distribute were bizarre, claiming receipts exceeding $11,000 an hour and close to $100,000 in one week of broadcast. Kolhatkar's show, which has been on the air in the morning in LA for close to a decade, collected an average of $2,051 an hour on KPFK during its ten fund drive broadcasts on KPFK between May 1 and May 17, never once cracking the $3,000 mark and once collecting as little as $600. The KPFK fund drive dailes for May 1-20 can be seen here. (http://www.mediafire.com/download/f5v8jwv6wz1wij7/KPFK+Fund+Drive+Dailies+5-1+to+5-20.pdf)

The wacky numbers may be another example of the creative accounting often in play at Berkeley's KPFA, whose books were left unreconciled for 18 months, events income was unprocessed for up to a year after receipt, and whose last permanent general manager left a $375,000 check uncashed in a desk for 15 months. Or they may indicate an attempt by a group of wealthy individuals to "purchase" the morning drive time hour in Berkeley for Kolhatkar and the program.

The latest tumult comes only days after an eight week occupation of the foundation's Berkeley headquarters ended on May 13th after an illegitimate majority set off chaos by suddenly firing the executive director only weeks after a permanent hire and reinstated a CFO who had been let go for poor performance and workplace complaints. The re-hired CFO has still not been able to enter the headquarters without being accompanied by professional mediators and the investigation report has vanished for months.

A satirical look at the chaos at the radio stations and what the future holds amid rumors of a network breakup by the Twit Wits comedy troupe (produced by noted theatrical producer George Coates) can be found here. (https://soundcloud.com/tracy-rosenberg/twit)

In a somewhat uneventful national board meeting on May 22nd, both Interim ED Duncan and the re-hired CFO gave brief reports in which they indicated lack of knowledge about many of the foundation's affairs. A motion to attend to securing a general counsel absorbed much of the meeting and was prevented from being dealt with at the meeting by the illegitimate majority. The audio can be heard here. The board ran out of time and did not proceed to a closed session afterwards. (http://www.kpftx.org).

The workplace tensions at KPFA, which have occasionally exploded into violence, most notoriously in 2008 when unpaid staffer Nadra Foster was violently arrested in the lobby in August of 2008, are the subject of this 2005 email by a paid staffer objecting to harassing signs being posted around the station by a shop steward. The email, which was submitted into discovery in a lawsuit, conceals the identity of the two, and has the employee concluding that "I feel that X was very disrespectful to me and was participating in an action that will only help to create an even more hostile workplace than we all (sic) ready have at KPFA." The complete email can be read here. (http://www.mediafire.com/download/w29f029wvxg1e1v/Hostile+Work+Environment.pdf)

KPFA's Community Advisory Board announced a town hall meeting at: EastSide Arts Alliance at 2277 International Boulevard in Fruitvale on June 21st.

###

Started in 1946 by conscientious objector Lew Hill, Pacifica's storied history includes impounded program tapes for a 1954 on-air discussion of marijuana, broadcasting the Seymour Hersh revelations of the My Lai massacre, bombings by the Ku Klux Klan, going to jail rather than turning over the Patty Hearst tapes to the FBI, and Supreme Court cases including the 1984 decision that noncommercial broadcasters have the constitutional right to editorialize, and the Seven Dirty Words ruling following George Carlin's incendiary performances on WBAI. Pacifica Foundation Radio operates noncommercial radio stations in New York, Washington, Houston, Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Bay Area, and syndicates content to over 180 affiliates. It invented listener-supported radio.

Sunday, May 18, 2014

What Majority?

May 18, 2014 at 6:23pm

Berkeley-As the first week after the TRO ruling passes, the extent of the shaky foundation of the 2014 rogue board continues to emerge. The lack of eligibility of not one, but two of the twelve directors claiming to constitute the majority of the board is unquestionable. Boards of directors of CA nonprofit organizations have only the powers and authorities vested in them by the organization's bylaws, and in this case, that's not looking like anything at all.

Pacifica's bylaws state that "no person who holds any elected or appointed public office at any level of government , federal, state, or local , or is a candidate for such office shall be eligible for election". (http://www.cosmicterror.net/bylaws/art4sec2.html)

The Pacifica bylaws differentiate between classes of members and do not permit station staff members, paid or unpaid, to fill listener representative positions. "Any Listener-Sponsor Member in good standing, except radio station management personnel or Foundation management personnel or staff members, may be nominated for the position of Listener-Sponsor Delegate for the Foundation radio station with which s/he is affiliated". (http://www.cosmicterror.net/bylaws/art4sec2.html)

So what to make of these endemic bylaws violations? While they certainly indicate sloppiness in carrying out Pacifica's elections over the last few years, the more important index is that, without the invocation of an "emergency", ongoing lack of compliance with bylaws introduces real questions about board authority. Seating ineligible directors does not constitute an emergency.

Director Lamb, who has made previous appearances in Pacifica In Exile for his rant on the gun rights of patriots and threatening emails to network staffers, also presents the problem of multiple felony convictions. The Communications Act of 1934 allows the Federal Communications Communication (FCC) to order a party applying for a broadcast relicensure with felony convictions to show cause for why they should be granted a broadcast license. With two of Pacifica's stations in the relicensure process right now (WBAI-FM and KPFT-FM),
Lambs failure to disclose his long rap sheet on his candidate statement introduces an element of risk that Pacifica's board should have (and did not) consider with advice of counsel, before risking both station's licenses. (http://www.mediafire.com/download/tah49s3jjn3bl4i/Pacifica+Candidate+Statement.pdf)

In a horrifying social media comment, KPFA local station board member Mark Hernandez (and Save KPFA member) proposed biometric surveillance at the front door of the community radio station in Berkeley before dismissing the idea as "too expensive". Biometric surveillance, which is often referred to as "face-recognition software" is one of the Orwellian devices recently floated for Oakland's Domain Awareness Center (DAC) before the Oakland City Council rolled back the proposal due to a huge community uproar.

The last edition discussed Dan Siegel's unethical investigation of sexual and racial harassment charges he knew in advance to be false at Pacifica. This pattern of facilitating false charges has come up before inSiegel and Yee's legal dossier when a 2010 ruling in Moreno vs. Ostly resulted in a sexual harassment claim rebounding against Siegel and Yee's client with a $1 million dollar award for defamation. The prevailing side mentioned that "the system is not to be used to bring claims that are not legitimate because you have some sort of personal vendetta". (http://www.mediafire.com/download/oq0354df10o0q22/Atty+Labeled+%27Sexual+Predator%27+Wins+%241.pdf#39;Sexual_Predator'_Wins_$1.pdf)

Siegel testified in 2011, as a sitting board member at KPFA, on behalf of former CFO Lonnie Hicks, that Hick's firing was caused by racism. Hicks won a $440,000 settlement and Pacifica shortly afterwards lost its directors and officers insurance policy and was only able to secure coverage at 3x the price, greatly exacerbating the financial stress at the network. Siegel's deposition (in a long and short version) can be found here. Multiple board members have reported over the years that Hick's financial statements were chronically confusing and they believed him to be concealing information. The controller Hicks hired and worked with for many years was later found to have been convicted of embezzling $90,000 from a previous employer and was let go by Reese in 2012 after charging personal items on the nonprofits credit card.
(http://www.mediafire.com/download/s24vs9uqb9gbkk4/Hicks+Siegel+Depo+pgs+115-117.pdf)
(http://www.mediafire.com/download/pud1n61m3m7t3xm/Hicks+Siegel+Depo+100317.pdf)

The court decision, if upheld on June 3rd, may also clear the way for "organizational darwinism" (as the decision to partition the network was described by attorney Dan Siegel) to prevail as the California stations may be poised to throw the weaker East Coast and Texas stations overboard by either withholding financial support or selling off the weaker units to endow the stronger ones, as some board members have publicly recommended.

A satirical look at the chaos at the radio stations and what the future holds amid rumors of a network breakup by the Twit Wits comedy troupe (produced by noted theatrical producer George Coates can be found here. (https://soundcloud.com/tracy-rosenberg/twit)

KPFA's Community Advisory Board announced a town hall meeting at EastSide Arts Alliance at 2277 International Boulevard in Fruitvale on June 21st.

###

Started in 1946 by conscientious objector Lew Hill, Pacifica's storied history includes impounded program tapes for a 1954 on-air discussion of marijuana, broadcasting the Seymour Hersh revelations of the My Lai massacre, bombings by the Ku Klux Klan, going to jail rather than turning over the Patty Hearst tapes to the FBI, and Supreme Court cases including the 1984 decision that noncommercial broadcasters have the constitutional right to editorialize, and the Seven Dirty Words ruling following George Carlin's incendiary performances on WBAI. Pacifica Foundation Radio operates noncommercial radio stations in New York, Washington, Houston, Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Bay Area, and syndicates content to over 180 affiliates. It invented listener-supported radio.

Friday, May 16, 2014

The Business of Collapse

May 16, 2014 at 4:31am

Berkeley-While waiting for the next court appearance on June 3rd, disconnects between vacuous executive reports and the reality of the grim situation at Pacifica are vivid. A bizarre chair's report professes ignorance about the financial state of the network. It also states the hijacked workplace investigation report about multiple complaints against the re-hired CFO that has been in Wilkinson's sole possession since March 17th, will be released to the board after Pacifica's HR firm returns a call. Wilkinson's contention appears to be a phone call she placed in March has not been returned for two months, preventing her from releasing the report to the rest of the board. The full report can be found here. http://www.mediafire.com/download/ae6t4zvnbmsim7g/Gmail+-+%5BPacificaRadiowaves%5D+Fw_+Public+Chair%27s+Report+--+feel+free+to+share.pdf#39;s_Report_--_feel_free_to_share.pdf)

To fill in the financial picture for the purported chair and the public:

1) WBAI's antenna/transmitter rental space on NY's Empire State Building is $150,000 past due in rent and the final payment deadline is May 23rd, after Reese negotiated an extenson in April.

2) KPFT's, whose re-licensure application has been frozen since August 1, 2013 will need to apply for a 5th consecutive waiver to operate at less than full power. The station's transmitter is entering the 8th year of its anticipated 10 year lifespan and "cannot" run at full power without risking catastrophic system failure.

3) WPFW has been fundraising for two weeks and has achieved only 15% of its goal, presenting a disastrous scenario for the next few months.

Behind the scenes, hints are being made about "corporate restructuring" of the national headquarters. Restructuring is likely to futher destabilize the accounting system, which has recently had to deal with a year's worth of missing event income at KPFA, a KPFK bookkeeper filling out other people's tax returns on KPFK's accounting computers, piles of unreconciled books, and more than half of 2012 income booked at the various stations being placed in "suspense accounts" by auditor Armanino McKenna, meaning local records did not clearly indicate where the money came from.

Reese spent May 14th testifying at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) on behalf of Pacifica in the case filed by SAG-AFTRA after Wilkinson gave final approval to personnel changes that had not been signed off on by the union local. SAG-AFTRA had agreed not to file at the time of Reese's attempted firing on March 13th, but reneged and filed at the NLRB two weeks after Reese's termination.

The court decision, if upheld on June 3rd, may also clear the way for "organizational darwinism" (as the decision to partition the network was described by attorney Dan Siegel) to prevail as the California stations may be poised to throw the weaker East Coast and Texas stations overboard by either withholding financial support or selling off the weaker units to endow the stronger ones, as some board members have publicly recommended.

A satirical look at the chaos at the radio stations and what the future holds amid rumors of a network breakup by the Twit Wits comedy troupe (produced by noted theatrical producer George Coates) can be found here. https://soundcloud.com/tracy-rosenberg/twit

New documents emerging revealing some of the tangled history that led to the current crisis. In order to shed light on the path to network breakup; some selected "wayback machine" documents will be released from time to time in order to allow the public, station members and journalists acess to information.

This first archive addresses two very current players in the 2014 Pacifica destabilization. In 2008, volunteer programmer Nadra Foster (who had been with the station for more than 14 years), was arrested violently in KPFA's lobby after management called the police. The event shocked many, and happened a year after the unpaid staff organization was derecognized, a traumatic event for a workplace with a long history of volunteerism. GM Lemlem Rijio sent an email to then-corporate counsel Dan Siegel (now the attorney for the rogue board majority) about a letter signed by 56 staffers upset at the Foster arrest and the preceeding derecognition, which might have provided an avenue for resolving the issue without the use of police. The September 8, 2008 email has Rijio saying "all this because I derecognized the unpaid staff organization". Rijio specifically mentions Voices of the Middle East producer Shahram Aghamir who was newly elected as a staff representative on KPFA's LSB, having gotten the highest number of votes ever recorded for a KPFA staff candidate, as opposing her actions. The email can be found here. http://www.mediafire.com/download/mhny52ofw90m2hb/No+confidence.pdf

A month later, on October 11, 2008, Rijio again emailed Siegel, this time filing formal complaints of sexual and racial harassment against "Aghamir and co", now expanded to include national board member Joe Wanzala and local board member Tracy Rosenberg. Rijio's complaint said the board members were criticizing her "because she was a black woman", not due to concerns by more than a 1/4 of the station's staff about volunteers being arrested and jailed. http://www.mediafire.com/download/igagp92aa5c5yjw/Rijio+Complaint.pdf

Corporate counsel Siegel failed to disclose or divulge the earlier email of September 8, 2008. The email confirmed no sexual or racial harassment had taken place and Rijio's concerns were about the impact of the open letter on her attempt to land the managerial job permanently and wanting to smother criticism of the derecognition of the unofficial bargaining unit for volunteers. Unethically Siegel proposed to investigate the bogus charges, while concealing his knowledge that they were false.
Pacifica eventually admitted the charges were bogus, apologized to the three, and re-recognized the Unpaid Staff Organziation. Rijio was let go after she was found to be hiding a $375,000 check in her desk drawer for 14 months. Wanzala and Aghamir say a Google search on their names still reveals the false sexual harassment charges against them.

A second document goes back to 2005, when news reporter Brian Edwards-Tiekert (and current member of the rogue board majority) left a printout of an email he wrote at a station communal printer. The misplaced email referred to "dismantling the local station board" and "making his enemies responsible for the problems to come" (presumably the financial problems). The elected station boards had been in existence for less than 2 years at the time of their proposed dismantling. The email can be found here. http://www.mediafire.com/download/4cse6t24y7byslj/Edwards-Tiekert+.pdf

What has recently come to light is an NLRB complaint Edwards-Tiekert filed claiming he was being discriminated against by the finding of the letter.
Then Pacifica counsels Howard, Rice Nemorovski wrote a scathing letter that resulted in the immediate dismissal of the charges. The letter states "Edwards-Tiekert's charges are simply elements of his political infighting with various members of the board and management at KPFA. He continues to abuse board processes for ends completely unrelated to the purposes of the Act. The factual allegations and legal theory put forth by this party are insulting nonsense". http://www.mediafire.com/download/t3032vlt4szubav/NLRB+Tiekert+2005.pdf

Years later, the pattern of abusing board processes to prevent transparency and accountability hasn't let up a whit.

###Started in 1946 by conscientious objector Lew Hill, Pacifica's storied history includes impounded program tapes for a 1954 on-air discussion of marijuana, broadcasting the Seymour Hersh revelations of the My Lai massacre, bombings by the Ku Klux Klan, going to jail rather than turning over the Patty Hearst tapes to the FBI, and Supreme Court cases including the 1984 decision that noncommercial broadcasters have the constitutional right to editorialize, and the Seven Dirty Words ruling following George Carlin's incendiary performances on WBAI. Pacifica Foundation Radio operates noncommercial radio stations in New York, Washington, Houston, Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Bay Area, and syndicates content to over 180 affiliates. It invented listener-supported radio.

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

A Morning After

May 14, 2014 at 4:51am

Berkeley-A day after issuance of a 3-week temporary restraining order, a fairly remarkable meeting happened at the Pacifica national headquarters on May 13, 2014.

With about seven "occupiers" in residence, and after the departure of executive director Reese in the AM in deference to the court order, the three staffers brave enough to come into work eventually met with purported chair Margy Wilkinson. The three women, who according to their own reports, have experienced severe harassment during the 7 week occupation, with community members present and bearing witness, laid into Wilkinson about their distress about the rehire of former chief financial officer Raul Salvador after 5 workplace complaints were filed, and talked in detail about KPFA's obstruction of their work towards the completion of the audit, as well as their concerns about retaliation from the board majority. An eyewitness who didn't want to be identified, reported "I think all three of the women who came in were in tears at one point or another at the very idea that she would force them to work under Raul Salvador again. When Margy asked about the audit, the staff also let her know in no uncertain terms that KPFA is the problem. Margy tried to say she wasn't going to talk to them about it, but they didn't let her evade the issue with all of us there. It explains a lot of why Summer felt she needed to go in there to protect her staff, and to protect the organization."

The upshot is that the national headquarters closed early at 2:00pm Pacific and there are apparently more meetings scheduled tomorrow. Workers, occupiers and rogue board members all have left the building for the day.

The court decision, if upheld on June 3rd, may also clear the way for "organizational darwinism" (as the decision to partition the network was described by attorney Dan Siegel) to prevail as the California stations may be poised to throw the weaker East Coast and Texas stations overboard by either withholding financial support or selling off the weaker units to endow the stronger ones, as some board members have publicly recommended.

The deadline for Texas station KPFT to apply for its 5th consecutive low-power waiver from the Federal Communications Commission while delaying re-licensing until it solves the transmitter problems, is May 27th, or 14 days from today.

A satirical look at the chaos at the radio stations and what the future holds amid rumors of a network breakup by the Twit Wits comedy troupe (produced by noted theatrical producer George Coates) can be found here. https://soundcloud.com/tracy-rosenberg/twit

Started in 1946 by conscientious objector Lew Hill, Pacifica's storied history includes impounded program tapes for a 1954 on-air discussion of marijuana, broadcasting the Seymour Hersh revelations of the My Lai massacre, bombings by the Ku Klux Klan, going to jail rather than turning over the Patty Hearst tapes to the FBI, and Supreme Court cases including the 1984 decision that noncommercial broadcasters have the constitutional right to editorialize, and the Seven Dirty Words ruling following George Carlin's incendiary performances on WBAI. Pacifica Foundation Radio operates noncommercial radio stations in New York, Washington, Houston, Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Bay Area, and syndicates content to over 180 affiliates. It invented listener-supported radio.

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Berkeley- Alameda Superior Court Judge Ioana Petrou issued a temporary restraining order today pending a new preliminary injunction hearing scheduled for June 3, 2014 at 9am in Department 15. The restraining order states ""Pending the hearing on the order to show cause (on June 3rd), Reese is enjoined from entering, remaining, blocking ingress into or egress from, or the passage of persons into and out of PFR's national office at 1925 Berkeley Way. The court at this time, limits the temporary restraining order to Summer Reese herself. PFR has not identified Does 1-100 and each of them, their agents, employees and representatives and all persons acting in concert or participating" with her, nor has it provided any information that would allow anyone seeking to enforce this order who these individuals may be. PFR may seek to expand the scope of this temporary restraining order upon a showing that those individuals are trespassing at the national office or committing a nuisance or disorderly conduct"

The narrow ruling did not substantively address the underlying issues and focused exclusively on Reese's physical presence at the nonprofit's headquarters. It will be in effect until June 3rd, with a PDGG opposition due to the court on May 20th. Upcoming hearings will include the June 3rd hearing as to whether the restraining order will continue past that date, a June 12th hearing on whether to remove Siegel and Yee as Pacifica's legal representative in the matter going forward, and the PDGG legal complaint in toto.

The ruling indicated that at this time, the court is not yet convinced that the PDGG directors will prevail in the long-term, which is the legal standard that must be met to merit the issuance of a preliminary injunction. The underlying legal case will continue to trial or settlement, with the temporary restraining order up for reconsideration on June 3rd.

The specific focus of the ruling leaves many matters up in the air for a while longer, including breach of fiduciary duty charges against the rogue board majority, the status of the terminated/rehired CFO with numerous workplace complaints and a hijacked workplace investigation report, several sets of contested board minutes, the questionable status of the board officers, and the long-term status of Reese and whether she is entitled to injunctive relief due to being fired for failing to disclose a social security number, and what the economic impact of that inadequately-noticed termination will be on the struggling nonprofit.

The court decision, if upheld on June 3rd, may also clear the way for "organizational darwinism" (as the decision to partition the network was described by attorney Dan Siegel) to prevail as the California stations may be poised to throw the weaker East Coast and Midwest stations overboard by either withholding financial support or selling off the wekaer units to endow the stronger ones, as some board members have publicly recommended.

Management instability will continue with the interim executive director appointed by the rogue board majority describing his tenure in the position as "just a few months" and the board having no search process for a replacement convened or underway, opening the prospect of at least one more proposed interim executive director appointment following Duncan, if no corrective action is taken eventually by the court.

One at EastSide Arts Alliance at 2277 International Boulevard in Fruitvale on June 21st.

###Started in 1946 by conscientious objector Lew Hill, Pacifica's storied history includes impounded program tapes for a 1954 on-air discussion of marijuana, broadcasting the Seymour Hersh revelations of the My Lai massacre, bombings by the Ku Klux Klan, going to jail rather than turning over the Patty Hearst tapes to the FBI, and Supreme Court cases including the 1984 decision that noncommercial broadcasters have the constitutional right to editorialize, and the Seven Dirty Words ruling following George Carlin's incendiary performances on WBAI. Pacifica Foundation Radio operates noncommercial radio stations in New York, Washington, Houston, Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Bay Area, and syndicates content to over 180 affiliates. It invented listener-supported radio.

The failure of the payroll processing company to issue checks opens up a cascading series of disasters, as the firm automatically processes a variety of deductions and additions, including federal and state taxes, garnishments, union dues, seniority bonuses and pension payments. At least 3 of the 5 Pacifica stations have no full-time bookkeeper on site, even if one person could manually calculate and issue all of the required checks. Payroll failure can be expected to result in new National Labor Relations Board grievances at all 4 unionized units as well as greatly distressing 161 employees who expect to be paid and paid on time.

The ongoing reckless behavior of the board majority, in addition to causing distress and confusion to vendors and employees, who may be faced with delayed compensation from these latest stunts, points to a pattern of risking institutional failure in the pursuit of an agenda of dissolution and the forced sale of one or more units to endow the rest.

The CFO position reports directly to the executive director and to the board of directors. Several PDGG directors tried repeatedly to discuss the possible failure to issue the payroll at the May 8th national board meeting and the ex-CFO and the Siegel law firm's destructive actions, but were not allowed to by the board majority.

Little was accomplished at the 4 hour national board meeting, which largely consisted of another shutdown by the board majority of any meaningful discussion. To briefly summarize: (the open session audio is available here (http://kpftx.org/archive.php) and the closed session audio is not available):

A continuing breach of order point regarding the occupation of the chair position by Margy Wilkinson and refusal to draw lots by the board majority despite the 11-11 tied vote for board chair since February of 2014 was voted down again. KPFA staff rep Brian Edwards-Tiekert attempted to argue that the purported chair's ruling that the point was "dilatory" could not even be discussed.

A motion to compel the distribution to the full board of the certified workplace investigation report on the numerous complaints against the former CFO was moved to closed session, where it was never discussed. Wilkinson hijacked the report on March 17th and has not disclosed its contents to the board of directors nor to the 5 staffers who filed the complaints.

Requests to provide the board with the letter of retainer between the law firm Siegel and Yee and the Pacifica Foundation were refused. Requests to provide the board with any contractual documents signed with a contractor to run the 2014 delegates election were refused.

In the closed session of the board meeting, which again proceeded with no agenda in violation of open meeting requirements, two incorrectly reported motions were corrected in 2-month old meeting minutes and then further corrections were shouted down and the remaining errors in the March 6, 2014 minutes were passed into the record. No other work was conducted.

Pacifica-In-Exile readers are strongly encouraged to donate to their local stations. If the May 6th preliminary injunction request is granted, there will be a need to settle out the new lawsuits and labor grievances, meet equipment needs, and repair the havoc of the past few months. All 5 station websites (wbai.org, kpfk.org, wpfw.org,kpft.org, kpfa.org) as well as pacifica.org, can process online donations 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Your support will help to avert a threatened break-up of the network and keep all 5 radio major-market licenses non-commercial and non-corporate for the long run.

Disputed chair Margy Wilkinson is reported to have said with regard to Reese's attempted firing; "it isn't illegal until someone says it is".

Reese has continued to report to work at the national headquarters since March 17th.

###

Started in 1946 by conscientious objector Lew Hill, Pacifica's storied history includes impounded program tapes for a 1954 on-air discussion of marijuana, broadcasting the Seymour Hersh revelations of the My Lai massacre, bombings by the Ku Klux Klan, going to jail rather than turning over the Patty Hearst tapes to the FBI, and Supreme Court cases including the 1984 decision that noncommercial broadcasters have the constitutional right to editorialize, and the Seven Dirty Words ruling following George Carlin's incendiary performances on WBAI. Pacifica Foundation Radio operates noncommercial radio stations in New York, Washington, Houston, Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Bay Area, and syndicates content to over 180 affiliates. It invented listener-supported radio.

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Berkeley-Various aspects of the PDGG vs. Pacifica lawsuit package (now expanded with a Siegel and Yee restraining order request and cross-complaint) were heard in Alameda Superior Court on the morning of May 6th. In a lengthy hearing, 5 witnesses testified. KPFA programmer Brian Edwards-Tiekert was the only witness for the Siegel and Yee side, and told a couple whoppers on the witness stand, including misquoting bylaws about telephonic meetings and asserting board member service at Pacifica is compensated when it is not. There were 4 witnesses for the PDGG side including 2013-2014 board member Richard Uzzell, Reese, national office senior accountant Joyce Black and 2013 PNB member Tracy Rosenberg.

The hearing largely revolved around issues of meeting notices, contracts/offer letters and the issue of Reese's lack of a social security number, which is the stated reason for the motion to fire her from Siegel and Yee associate Jose Luis Fuentes.

The judge agreed to review all of the pleadings and issue her decision as quickly as possible. Nothing was released on the court's website at press time.

For those who want to take a look at all of the legal filings to date: here is a cheat sheet.

The 5 Pacifica stations went into fund drive this week, with reasonably positive numbers so far. Pacifica-In-Exile readers are strongly encouraged to donate to their local stations. If the May 6th preliminary injunction request is granted, there will be a need to settle out the new lawsuits and labor grievances, meet equipment needs, and repair the havoc of the past few months. All 5 station websites (wbai.org, kpfk.org, wpfw.org, kpft.org, kpfa.org) as well as pacifica.org, can process online donations 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Your support will help to avert a threatened break-up of the network and keep all 5 radio major-market licenses non-commercial and non-corporate for the long run.

An open letter signed by hundreds of the network's staffers and supporters objecting to the breach of Reese's contract can be found here http://2014.supportkpfa.org/?p=91

A community forum held at the Berkeley Federation of Universalist Unitarians (BFUU) discussed the current situation last Sunday and is available on video. http://2014.supportkpfa.org/?p=916. The crowd was overwhelmingly opposed to the actions of the rogue board majority. Listener Daniel Borgstrom wrote about the forum and the last local station board meeting here. http://2014.supportkpfa.org/?p=924

Disputed chair Margy Wilkinson is reported to have said with regard to Reese's attempted firing; "it isn't illegal until someone says it is".

Reese has continued to report to work at the national headquarters since March 17th.

###

Started in 1946 by conscientious objector Lew Hill, Pacifica's storied history includes impounded program tapes for a 1954 on-air discussion of marijuana, broadcasting the Seymour Hersh revelations of the My Lai massacre, bombings by the Ku Klux Klan, going to jail rather than turning over the Patty Hearst tapes to the FBI, and Supreme Court cases including the 1984 decision that noncommercial broadcasters have the constitutional right to editorialize, and the Seven Dirty Words ruling following George Carlin's incendiary performances on WBAI. Pacifica Foundation Radio operates noncommercial radio stations in New York, Washington, Houston, Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Bay Area, and syndicates content to over 180 affiliates. It invented listener-supported radio.

The 5 Pacifica stations went into fund drive this week, with reasonably positive numbers so far. KPFK booked $99,000 in their first four days and KPFA booked $85,000. Numbers are not yet available from the non-California stations. Pacifica-In-Exile readers are strongly encouraged to donate to their local stations. If the May 6th preliminary injunction request is granted, there will be a need to settle out the new lawsuits and labor grievances, meet equipment needs, and repair the havoc of the past few months. All 5 station websites (wbai.org,kpfk.org, wpfw.org, kpft.org, kpfa.org) as well as pacifica.org, can process online donations 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Your support will help to avert a threatened break-up of the network and keep all 5 radio major-market licenses non-commercial and non-corporate for the long run.

Tomorrow, May 6th at 9:00am, the preliminary injunction request in PDGG vs. Pacifica will be heard in Alameda Superior Court in Department 15 with Judge Ioana Petrou. It will be followed at 10:00am by a hearing on the Siegel and Yee request to evict the national office. The opposition filing on the Siegel and Yee eviction request was filed on May 5th and can be found here. (http://www.mediafire.com/download/499g11zz54glvk2/SR+TRO+Opposition.pdf)

Project Censored's Mickey Huff and Peter Phillips, volunteer programmers at the station whose program airs Friday mornings at 8:00am released this statement on May 2nd discussing the important role of volunteers like themselves in KPFA's mission, linking some of the recent struggles to the possibility of Cointelpro-style infiltration, and suggesting mediation for the entire Pacifica National Board. (http://2014.supportkpfa.org/?p=916)

An open letter signed by hundreds of the network's staffers and supporters objecting to the breach of Reese's contract can be found here
(http://2014.supportkpfa.org/?p=91)

Pacifica in Exile tries to document some of the bizarre behavior manifesting in the rogue board majority, most of which passes under the radar screen of listener sponsors who have no access to the flurry of emails between board members. Having passed on a few emails in the last edition, here are some updates. KPFT listener-sponsor representative Hank Lamb, whose stirring recitation of National Rifle Assn talking points was sent out on a public list-serv, is a convicted felon, having served a 16-month prison sentence in Southern California in the 90's. This means two of the twelve directors that comprise the rogue majority have significant criminal records, which would probably prevent Pacifica from qualifying for bonding, as some directors have suggested be done in the past. It also brings up a larger question whether background checks are in order for board volunteers and whether candidates should be required to disclose material facts to voters, such as felony convictions, when they stand for election. (Lamb did not).
KPFA local station board member and Oakland community activist Samsarah Morgan wrote about her perceptions after a year on the board here.

The national committee elections process, already months overdue (it should have been done in February), was thrown into disarray after a board member violated the secret ballot protocol by sending their electronic ballot to other board members rather than to the election teller. A member of the board majority was apparently running their ballot by the officers and LA board member Lydia Brazon - and accidentally sent it to the whole board. KPFA and KPFK board members Janet Kobren and Kim Kaufman had tried unsuccessfully to get the board to allow committee candidates to address the whole board to present their qualifications for the posts they have requested, but were denied by the officers.

KPFA news anchor John Hamilton is moving to San Diego and vacating his part-time job at KPFA. We wish him well in his new endeavours. Hamilton's position avoided layoff in early 2011 after KPFA posted operating deficits of almost $600,000 the two previous years by the use of an Employment Development Department job-sharing program, which allowed members of the KPFA news department to temporarily reduce their working hours and get reimbursed by the State of California for the pay difference between their modified schedules and their normal schedules. The program has been in effect ever since, and Hamilton's departure should cause it to terminate as the vacancy is being advertised indicating KPFA no longer needs Employment Development Department subsidization to pay its payroll. (http://www.cpb.org/jobline/listing.php?listing_id=15130)

A community forum held at the Berkeley Federation of Universalist Unitarians (BFUU) discussed the current situation last Sunday and is available on video. (http://2014.supportkpfa.org/?p=897) The crowd was overwhelmingly opposed to the actions of the rogue board majority. Listener Daniel Borgstrom wrote about the forum and the last local station board meeting here. (http://2014.supportkpfa.org/?p=924)

Attorney Alan Yee of Siegel and Yee misquoted Internal Revenue Service code USC 26 Section 6109 (c) in the injunction reponse filed by the rogue board majority. Looking to buttress their claim that Reese was never hired as the executive director, Yee printed a list of citations lifted directly from a "find law" page located in a google search without verifying if the IRS citation on the page was correct. It wasn't. Here is the correct citation:

"26 USC 6109(a)(3) Furnishing number of another person Any person required under the authority of this title to make a return, statement, or other document with respect to another person shall request from such other person, and shall include in any such return, statement, or other document, such identifying number as may be prescribed for securing proper identification of such other person.26 CFR 301.6109-1(c) Requirement to furnish another's number. “If the person making the return, statement, or other document does not know the taxpayer identifying number of the other person, and such other person is one that is described in paragraph (b)(2)(i), (ii), (iii), or (vi) of this section, such person must request the other person's number. The request should state that the identifying number is required to be furnished under authority of law. When the person making the return, statement, or other document does not know the number of the other person, and has complied with the request provision of this paragraph (c), such person must sign an affidavit on the transmittal document forwarding such returns, statements, or other documents to the Internal Revenue Service, so stating”
The employer penalty is $50, usually described in legal lingo as a de minimus burden i.e. "not much". The penalty, which the IRS never assessed Pacifica in 2012 when Reese was placed on payroll, is the sole employer consequence for failure to submit an employee's social security number after submitting an affidavit that the request was made.

Pacifica's board was told this in February of 2013 by their corporate counsel and would have been told so again in February 2014 had they allowed the corporate counsel to address the board.

Disputed chair Margy Wilkinson is reported to have said with regard to Reese's attempted firing; "it isn't illegal until someone says it is".

Reese has continued to report to work at the national headquarters since March 17th.

###

Started in 1946 by conscientious objector Lew Hill, Pacifica's storied history includes impounded program tapes for a 1954 on-air discussion of marijuana, broadcasting the Seymour Hersh revelations of the My Lai massacre, bombings by the Ku Klux Klan, going to jail rather than turning over the Patty Hearst tapes to the FBI, and Supreme Court cases including the 1984 decision that noncommercial broadcasters have the constitutional right to editorialize, and the Seven Dirty Words ruling following George Carlin's incendiary performances on WBAI. Pacifica Foundation Radio operates noncommercial radio stations in New York, Washington, Houston, Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Bay Area, and syndicates content to over 180 affiliates. It invented listener-supported radio.

Thursday, May 1, 2014

Berkeley-Reply briefs were filed today in PDGG vs. Pacifica. The documents include declarations from plaintiff Heather Gray, one of 2 board members representing Pacifica's 180 affiliated stations (WRFG in Atlanta, Georgia,) and national employee Weiling Thai, the pension and benefits administrator. The final set of filings can be found here. The hearing for a preliminary injunction will be at 9:00am in Department 15 of the Alameda Superior Court.

An open letter signed by hundreds of the network's staffers and supporters objecting to the breach of Reese's contract can be found here.

Another bizarre email from Siegel and Yee associate attorney Jose Luis Fuentes has surfaced. Written in February, the email references attorneys "running away" and suggests they "stay out of the kitchen". The email incoherently warns people in glass houses should not throw "peddles" and references an unnamed ideological struggle Mr. Fuentes believes himself to be engaged in. In the interests of transparency to listener-members, the entire email is excerpted below.

Mr Fuente's employers, Dan Siegel and Alan Yee, claim to be representing the Pacifica Foundation in the PDGG vs Pacifica lawsuit, a TRO request for police to assault the national office the court did not grant, and a countersuit requesting financial damages.

Mr. Fuentes had previously replied to concern about a board meeting scheduled for the first day of Passover, by stating "he did not regret the bombing of the King David Hotel". (A 1946 bombing in Jerusalem by the right-wing Zionist militia, the Irgun).

I suggest that folks who want attorneys present donate 20,000 to Pacifica so we can hire attorneys that bring their A game to our meetings. Ms. Virtue (of Garvey, Schubert and Barer - Pacifica's FCC attorneys) brought her A game to our meeting and did not run away. Mr. Gross (Terry Gross of Belsky, Alonzo and Gross, Pacifica's former corporate counsel who resigned) did not bring his A game but he understood that it was best not to run away since he had clean hands. I expect attorneys that advise us to bring their A game. I suggest that if people cannot stand the heat in the kitchen to stay out. I suggest that people who live in glass house not to throw peddles {sic}. We are engaged in an ideological struggle and we must keep it there. Anything less is libertarian indulgence that eats away at the collective life.

Sent from my iPhone

Mr Fuentes is reported to have bullied and threatened several attorneys at the meeting including Mr. Gross, Ms. Virtue and DC-based labor lawyer Cathy Harris.

A forum held by the Berkeley Unitarian Universalists congregation on April 27th was captured on video and the video can be viewed here. The forum attracted 50-60 people and all but two expressed support for the on-going national office occupation. It can also be viewed on No Lies Radio and on Youtube.

All 5 Pacifica stations go into fundraising mode in May and Pacifica-In-Exile readers are strongly encouraged to donate to their local stations. If the May 6th preliminary injunction request is granted, there will be a need to settle out the new lawsuits and labor grievances, meet equipment needs, and repair the havoc of the past few months. All 5 station websites (wbai.org, kpfk.org, wpfw.org, kpft.org, kpfa.org) as well as pacifica.org, can process online donations 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Your support will help to avert a threatened break-up of the network and keep all 5 radio major-market licenses non-commercial and non-corporate for the long run.

A satirical look at the chaos at the radio stations and what the future holds amid rumors of a network breakup by the Twit Wits comedy troupe (produced by noted theatrical producer George Coates) can be found here.

KPFA local station board member and Oakland community activist Samsarah Morgan sized up the situation here.

Disputed chair Margy Wilkinson is reported to have said with regard to Reese's attempted firing; "it isn't illegal until someone says it is".

Reese has continued to report to work at the national headquarters since March 17th.

Just a few minutes ago, KPFT listener representative Hank Lamb shared his views on gun control on a Pacifica discussion board. Lamb is a member of the rogue board majority and has expressed frequently his desire to break up the network by doing a commercial license swap in New York. (Printed with the author's spelling errors).

I am pro-gun. The 2nd Amendment does not say guns, it says arms. Arms are anything used for offense or defense. Hpw cam people comtrol a government when the enforcers of that government (military and militia) have a tremendous advantage that mere firearms would be near impossible to overcome that advantage with. It is an invitation to abuse citizens, sent by citizens that allowed it. A military (well regulated regulars and militia) is necessary to maintain a free nation among other nations, so in order to maintain control of a government by its citizens they must have the right to keep and bear arms. It is the very reason for the Second Amendment.

Just to say a nation has a right to have an army which is the popular Leftist view is purely nonsense and would never need to be among our Amendments. We already had a long established army, a well regulated militia. It was pawful already amd most obviously necessary. If citizens were not allowed to have weapons, the British would still be here. They tried on many occasions to disarm the populace. Those folks, seeing theor weapoms as the only means of gaining and insuring freedom, once having acheived it, codified the right for all persons.

Hank

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Started in 1946 by conscientious objector Lew Hill, Pacifica's storied history includes impounded program tapes for a 1954 on-air discussion of marijuana, broadcasting the Seymour Hersh revelations of the My Lai massacre, bombings by the Ku Klux Klan, going to jail rather than turning over the Patty Hearst tapes to the FBI, and Supreme Court cases including the 1984 decision that noncommercial broadcasters have the constitutional right to editorialize, and the Seven Dirty Words ruling following George Carlin's incendiary performances on WBAI. Pacifica Foundation Radio operates noncommercial radio stations in New York, Washington, Houston, Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Bay Area, and syndicates content to over 180 affiliates. It invented listener-supported radio.

Please Support Andrea Sears' Reporting

Unemployment insurance is running out for Andrea Sears of Left Voices, former WBAI/Pacifica News Editor, who was part of the WBAI staff layoffs last August. Despite some promising interviews, Andrea does not have a job yet, and would really appreciate your support.